Pope re-enacts washing of apostles’ feet

POPE Benedict XVI washed the feet of 12 men yesterday, re-enacting Jesus’s washing of his apostles’ feet during the Last Supper and saying the act cleansed the “filth” of mankind.

In St John Lateran Basilica, he poured water over each of the men’s feet and scrubbed each one dry in an act of humility and service.

In his homily, Benedict said Jesus washed his disciples’ feet to purify them so they could join him at the Last Supper, the meal which the faithful believe Jesus shared with his apostles before he was crucified.